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00:00Was this season a success for LA?
00:04It's a valid question,
00:05because you walked into the game as a field goal favorite,
00:08you're an 11-win football team,
00:11and you were spotted an early lead.
00:13That probably should have been more, but it wasn't.
00:16You pick your head up now, Leecey.
00:19And for me, Justin Herbert has a playoff bugaboo
00:25that he's gonna have to try and get over.
00:27He's been there twice.
00:29Game number one, he's on the wrong side
00:31of the biggest comeback in NFL post-season history,
00:34and game number two, he manages to throw more interceptions
00:38in a playoff loss than he threw the entire regular season.
00:40Yeah. Not great?
00:41Four interceptions yesterday really put his team
00:44in terms of a disadvantage, to your point.
00:46They start with the lead 6-0.
00:48They looked like they were dominating,
00:50running the football with Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins,
00:53and then all of a sudden, the wheels fell off, right?
00:55Houston started to dominate the trenches
00:58from a defense and offensive line perspective.
01:00We saw big plays in the late second quarter by C.J. Stroud.
01:04He throws for 282 yards.
01:06Once they got the lead about 10-6,
01:09they just took over from a defensive perspective,
01:12and the front seven led by Will Anderson.
01:14You hold L.A. to 2.8 yards per carry,
01:17three of 11 in terms of third down conversions,
01:20forced four interceptions.
01:21That's a very difficult recipe to overcome,
01:24and that's why they got blown out
01:25in terms of that matchup for Houston.
01:27They got back to their offensive identity.
01:29We saw Nico Collins, seven receptions,
01:31a buck 22 on a touchdown, mixing over 100 yards.
01:34They play like that from a defensive perspective, Donnie.
01:37They're gonna be a very difficult,
01:39I don't put a lot, Herbert played terrible.
01:41I'm not gonna bash Herbert and say,
01:43is his playoff career like Lamar or Dak
01:48up until this point where he hasn't lived up
01:50to expectations, only two games,
01:52but again, this team, I believe,
01:54over-exceeded expectations in year one with Jim Harbaugh.
01:58They weeded the players that don't fit in,
02:00they got the players that do fit in,
02:02and now year number two, I think sky's the limit
02:04for this team.
02:05I actually like the season,
02:06the way it played out for the Chargers,
02:07because Harbaugh came in, instilled that foundation
02:09as we like to talk about, here's how we're gonna play.
02:11You know, tried to challenge for the division,
02:13but it's gonna be tough, obviously,
02:14in that tough AFC West they have,
02:16but getting to the playoff, they lost.
02:18You know what, I actually like that for them.
02:19I said, that's crazy.
02:20Why would you like it in the actual losing,
02:21and that's an embarrassment the way they did it?
02:23No, but here's what happens.
02:25They understand they have the foundation
02:26of a good football team.
02:27All of those warts completely showed up
02:28in that playoff game.
02:29You have one wide receiver, basically.
02:31Look at the actual statistics
02:32on who the quarterback Justin Hurt was throwing to.
02:34He had one player, nobody else could show up.
02:36You now know that your first round bus
02:38that has shown up multiple times over the past two years
02:40did not even have catches, to have 150 yards,
02:43then go back to having no catches.
02:44He's gone, he's completely done.
02:45He's cheap there, might be able to keep him around
02:47to see what he can get, but at the same time,
02:49you know you need multiple wide receivers
02:50next year in free agency.
02:51That you cut this year, rightfully so, you did that.
02:53You also need a tight end that can actually
02:55get down the field and sort of help you out.
02:57You need another running back,
02:58because J.K. Dobbins is forever gonna stay injured
03:00when you need him in the biggest moments here.
03:01So from my money, I liked what I saw,
03:03because hardball can't say, you know what?
03:06We won two playoff games.
03:07I love this football team.
03:09No, you saw exactly what this football team is,
03:12and the flaws it has.
03:13Go out and make the improvements in the offseason,
03:14because next year, I'm looking forward
03:15to see what the Chargers bring to the table.
03:17I think you're correct that there is a lot of room
03:19for improvement.
03:20I think the expectations are they're gonna have
03:22a big offseason.
03:23They're gonna push that Chiefs number a little bit.
03:26Maybe depends on how well Kansas City does
03:27within the postseason this year.
03:29Talking about top four, five odds to win a conference
03:31next year from L.A.
03:34But again, now Herbert has a hurdle.
03:38We talk about these things, and it's real,
03:40because yesterday, he looked broken.
03:43It looked like it was getting to him.
03:45He's like, man, I'd like for this to be over.
03:47I'd like to go home.
03:49I'm not having a good time.
03:50No, he wasn't.
03:51The offensive line broke down, though.
03:53When you can't run the football consistently,
03:55and you're in third and eight,
03:57and now you're down double digits,
03:58and Will Anderson and that front seven
04:00are pinning their ears back
04:01because they know it's pass only,
04:03he got battered, right?
04:05And he got exploited.
04:06The team got exploited in regards
04:08to that type of situation.
04:09Just a bad matchup for Hearson,
04:11and I credit D'Amico Ryans and that defense.
04:13We talk about how they stepped up
04:15against better quarterbacks this year,
04:16and they proved themselves coming back at home.
04:19But think about the defense for a second.
04:21They were the worst under Brandon Staley, right?
04:24And again, the first playoff loss, Kev,
04:26he puts up 30 points.
04:27It's not like a Lamar Jackson
04:29where he threw 136 yards.
04:32They scored 13 points and lost the ball game by 17 points.
04:35It was part Justin Herbert in the second half
04:37and part on Brandon Staley.
04:39But think about the evolution of defense
04:41under Jim Harbaugh.
04:42At one point this season,
04:43they're the number one ranked scoring defense
04:46with the same basically team
04:48that they had under Brandon Staley,
04:51and they elevated.
04:52So that's why I think there's room for optimism.
04:54But to your point, they get back to the playoffs next year.
04:57Justin Herbert has to answer the bell.